Austria to offer a mountain combat training within PESCO

Austria will offer a mountain combat training for the EU armies under the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) framework. Also, it plans to strengthen arms production, focusing in particular on niche segments of the market, such as the chemical hazard sensors for small aircraft.

Due to the Austrian Army's professionalism, the offered training met with the interest of the other signatories of the initiative. But how will the Free Party of Austria (FPÖ), which became part of the new ruling coalition in December, react remains a question since the FPÖ is critical of European integration, and considers EU a political project that forces member countries to an artificial integration. Being in charge of the Ministries of the Interior, Defense, and Foreign Affairs, the FPÖ will have a major influence on the country's attitudes towards the EU, and it can also assert its potential rejection of the PESCO, which leads to greater defense integration within EU. Austria’s PESCO commitments are entirely voluntary and therefore leaving the structure shouldn’t be much of a problem.